Removable vehicle body and means for supporting same



Sept. 7, 1943. E. L. I-E'RALLEY 2,328,971

REMOVABLE VEHICLE BODY AND MEANS FOR SUPPORTING SAME Filed Nov. 20, 1940 2 Sheets-Sheet l (2391 a T; J

mu E W 23 2: T jmesr AFR/MEX Sept. 7, 1943. E. L FRALEY 2,328,971

REMOVABLE VEHICLE BODY AND MEANS FOR SUPPORTING SAME Filed Nov. 20, 1940 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Sept. 7, 1943 iRE-MOVABIJE VE HICLE 30mins MEANS it 1 y nos SUPPORTINGSAME' time L. many, Galatians; Mi. i "Application November 20, 1940; :Serial N 366,489 V 1 a ia. (01. 296- This invention relates to vehicle bodies and means fOr facilitating the placing of a body upon aveh'cle and also for facilf ating the-removal LQ fthe body fro a vehicle. it

One of the principal objects of this invention: is the production of a simple andefficient openbottom body construction which is horoughly braced across the top thereof in a mannerwherebythe sides-and ends will be firmly held together ,to t resist strain placed thereon from the interior of the body,

A further object of this invention is theifpi ovision of means. for supporting the body in a position whereby the body may bequickly placed upon a truck or other vehicle with a minimum amount of efiort and may be lifted or removed from a vehicle without the necessity of employing a complicated mechanism.

Other objects and advantages of the present invention will appear throughout the following specification and claim. In the drawings;

Figure 1 is a side elevational view of theremovable or demountable vehiclebody, a portion ofthe vehicle being-shown;

Figure 2 is a top. plan view of thewrernovable or demountable body;

mountable body, a portion shown in section; ,i t H V i Figure ,4 is a fragmentary perspective-viewfilustrating one corner of. the demountable body of the g truck being and also illustrating a portion of thefloor ofthe view taken on line 9-9 of Figure 7;

t Figure 10 is a top plan view of the supporting rack illustrating the arrangement of the supporting posts, the demountable body being shown in dotted lines;

Figure 11 is a side elevational view of the supporting rack and showing a portion of a truck of; one of the supporting postsof the rack and showingtthe manner in which the body may be lifted .to be supported upon the supporting rods carried by the rack;

Figure 1311s a fragmentary perspective view of a portion of one of the supporting posts of the Figure 3 is a front elevational view of the de- .By referring to the drawings it will be seen that B designates the demountable body and T designates;the supporting truck or vehicle. The body .3 preferably comprises an open -bottom structure having two parallel sides 15, a front-wall l6, and

a rear wall l'l. -The sides i5 comprise a plu rality of longitudinally extending panels l8 which are supported by vertically extending braces I9, these braces l9 being in turn secured to the bottom side rails 2 0 by means of angle braces 2| of a'suitable type. The bottom side rails extend forvthe, full length of theLbody and form an integral part of the body B, The front end "wall l6 also comprises a plurality of horizontally extendingpanels ZZ which are braced by means of the vertically extending braces23,these braces 33 being secured tmthe front bottom rail 24 by meansof suitable anglebraces 25; The bottom side rails 20 are-broad and flat and extend in a horizontal plane 'so as torest in a flat position throughout; their entire length upon the upper face-of the supporting truck T, as shown in Figures1 5and'7 The rear wall 1! com ri es a plurality of horizontal panels 26 which are anchored upon the vertical brace 21, and these braces 21 are se cured to the bottom rail 28 by means-of the angle braces 23, across one-half the width of the demountable truck body and a slidinggate 30 of a suitable type is adapted to close the remaining one-half of the rear end of;the truckbody. This gate 30 is suspended between-suitable hangers 3! which are slidably mounted upon a' rod -32 supported across .the rear-toptportion of: the truck bodyand this entering the rack prior to demounting the body from the truck;

Figure 12 is a fragmentary vertical sectional view through the body and illustrating a portion gate 3|] is so mounted as to move to and from a closing position as'indicated in dotted lines in Figure 8 to permit the entrance of cattle into and from the body, or to permit the placing of and the removal of articles into and outof the body. A suitable fastening element of a desired type may be employed to hold the gate in a closed position without departing from the spirit of the invention.

By carefully considering the drawings, it will be noted that the sides I8 are braced across the top thereof by means of transversely extending suitably spaced bracing bars 33 and these bars The end wall I! preferably extends of the body connecting the vertical braces IQ of the sides l8, and suitable angle braces 34 are preferably employed to brace the corner or junction of the braces 33 with the bars [9.

A relatively wide longitudinally extending bracing member 35 extends longitudinally of the full length of the top of the body near each side [8, as shownrin-detaib in Figure 2;, and is ane chored to each of the-braces 33 thereby thoroughly reinforcing and tying the sides, end and rear walls together and thoroughly bracing the dea mountable body along the topof thev body, and

- 33 preferably extend transversely across the top ranged in the formation of a hollow rectangle properly spaced to permit the demountable body to pass between two pairs of posts, as illustrated in Figure 10. Each post carries a removable, ro-

' tatable body-supporting bar 4| which extends transversely through the posts 40 near the top thereof, and transversely of the body B so as to provide a rest between the opposite transverse posts upon which the body B is adapted to rest in the mannershowm in Figure 12; Each post also carries a lever-engaging rod 42 which r0 42 j extends at right angles to the rod 41 in each instanc aqr.longitudinally of the demountable b dy at the same time providing an open-topbody.

This is a very important feature of the invention in that the necessity of thoroughly; bracing-the sides, end and rear walls of a body part ular y adapted for transporting live stock and the like,

is of utmost importance. In viewof the fact that anchored to the floor of the truck or other vehie-1e T by. means of anchoring bolts 36' which passtransversely through the rails '20- and 24 and are adapted to pass through apertures or stake holes formed in the floor of the truck-T.

, Suitable nuts 37 may beplaced upon the bolts 36 to anchor the bolts'in position. These nuts 37 may be readily removed and thebolts 35 may be also'r'emoved when it is desired to dismount'the body B from the truck T. When the bod 'B is mounted upon the truck '1, however, it should be understood that the bolts 33 will firmly "anchor the bottom rails 2t! upon the truck-bo-dy T, the bottom rails- 20' being preferably relatively wide to provide a broad resting surface to contact the top face of the floor of the truck T. Through themedium of the structure illustratedand described, it should be understood that an elficiently braced, sturdy and economical demountable body is provided which will resist internal pressure from live stock carried therein all of the par-ts being tied together in such a rnanneras to brace the" body longitudinally, vertically and transversely.

In conjunction with the particular body structureabovedescribed, an important feature of the present invention is the supporting rack for the demountable body whereby the body may be efii ciently supported in a position to facilitate the mounting and dismounting of the body upon and from a vehicle such as a-ttruck and the like. This rack comprises a plurality, 'pref'erably'four in number, of vertical posts 40 which are ar- [Because of the manner in which the bodyis 'when the body is in its position upon the ra k.

When it is desired to remove the body B from 1 the truck-T, the truck is backed in position under the supported body and the lever 43 is used in the manner above described to lift the body from the rods 4| and the rods or bars 4| are removed and the lever is withdrawn to allow the body to drop down upon the truck. This same operation is repeated with respect to each o orner of'the truck and'body, andthe body is then anchored upon the truck through the mediumofthe anchoring bolts 36, above described.

supportedupon the rods 4| when ina supp in-g -position it shouldfbe understood that the body B may be slightly adjusted as to its po'sition to accommodate the body to the'positiori of the truck if any slight adjustment is necessarydue to the fact that the body will be supported upon the circular rods or supporting bars 41 which bars or rods are rotatably andadjustably mounted'within the apertures- M ofthe posts 49.

It should be understood that certain detail changes in the mechanical construction and arrangement of parts may be employed without departing from the spirit of the invention; so

long as such changes fall within the scope of the appended claim.

Having described the invention, what I-claim as new is:

Ademountable body'ofthe class described having an open bottom extending from end-'toend and a transversely'and longitudinally braced top, the body also having an open endforloading and unloading, broad flat bottom side rails secured to the bottom of the body'and extending in a horizontal plane from end to end of: the 

